Leave It On The Floor

Set in modern day Los Angeles, "Leave It On The Floor" is an original musical about the ballroom scene. The last time a motion picture of this quality tried to capture the energy and lifestyle of this sub-culture was the landmark and widely acclaimed "Paris Is Burning" documentary. This film has a much larger budget and scope, and yet it accomplishes barely a fraction of what "Paris Is Burning" was able to.

But perhaps it is unfair to compare a fluffy, affair to what is now a landmark documentary. Perhaps it is more fitting to compare it to B-grade "fun" movies such as "Burlesque" or "Step Up." However, even through that lens, this film was a failure from beginning to end. I determined through the excruciating hour and a half that there wasn't one element that was handled correctly.

The film tells the story of Brad, a gay youth who is kicked out of his house when his mother discovers his sexuality. Through a series of unfortunate events, he finds himself swept into a vogue ball, where he meets other gay men in similar situations who compete in the ballroom scene to survive.

Pointless and badly executed songs peppered the film, a brief and thankless respite from the uniformly painful dialogue being spewed by the undeveloped caricatures that made up the cast. It was almost as if those involved pulled out all of the things that did not work in similar movies and decided to use them exclusively to create "Leave It On The Floor."

Pointless and badly executed songs peppered the film, a brief and thankless respite from the uniformly painful dialogue being spewed by the undeveloped caricatures that made up the cast.

This entire affair is particularly disappointing when you recognize the vibrant and gritty subject matter. The ballroom scene is still a relatively unknown, unexplored, and fascinating sub-culture that could inspire even the least visionary of screenwriters. Instead, "Leave It On The Floor" decided to dilute and typify their characters with overused and bad archetypes, all the while refusing to showcase the glitz that the vogue scene is known for.

Beyond all of the disappointing character development and plot progression, "Leave It On Floor" was even incapable of delivering anything with excitement in between. Where were intense vogue dance battles? Where was the trans element in the characters presented? Shock factor was unavailable it seemed to the creators of the film, and with a never ending parade of schmaltz and corny interactions, a little bit of shock is exactly what was needed.

While watching "Leave It On The Floor," I searched and searched for a redeeming quality or at least a positive side that would let me write a review with some balance. It is unfortunate that I could find nothing, unless some skin-bearing eye candy and maybe two scenes of decent dancing is enough for you. Otherwise, when it comes to "Leave It On The Floor," leave it in the bin.